This is how you put country before party
We are former national security officials who served during the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and/or Donald Trump, or as Republican Members of Congress. We are profoundly concerned about the course of our nation under the leadership of Donald Trump. Through his actions and his rhetoric, Trump has demonstrated that he lacks the character and competence to lead this nation and has engaged in corrupt behavior that renders him unfit to serve as President.
For the following reasons, we have concluded that Donald Trump has failed our country and that Vice President Joe Biden should be elected the next President of the United States.
- Donald Trump has gravely damaged America’s role as a world leader. Trump has disgraced America’s global reputation and undermined our nation’s moral and diplomatic influence. He has called NATO “obsolete,” branded Europe a “foe,” mocked the leaders of America’s closest friends, and threatened to terminate longstanding US alliances. Other global leaders, friends and foes alike, view him as unreliable, unstable, and unworthy of respect.
- Donald Trump has shown that he is unfit to lead during a national crisis. Instead of rallying the American people and the world to confront the coronavirus, Trump has spent the past half year spreading misinformation, undermining public health experts, attacking state and local officials, and wallowing in self-pity. He has demonstrated far greater concern about the fate of his reelection than the health of the American people.
- Donald Trump has solicited foreign influence and undermined confidence in our presidential elections. Trump publicly asked Russian president Vladimir Putin to assist his 2016 campaign, called on Chinese president Xi Jinping to “start an investigation” into his current political opponent, and pressured the president of Ukraine to act against his opponent. Citing exaggerated claims of voter fraud, he has challenged the integrity of this year’s election, even suggesting that it be postponed.
- Donald Trump has aligned himself with dictators and failed to stand up for American values. Trump has regularly praised the actions of dictators and human rights abusers. He proclaimed his “love” and “great respect” for North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un, endorsed “brilliant leader” Xi Jinping’s move to serve as China’s president for life, repeatedly sided with Vladimir Putin against our own intelligence community, and pronounced himself a “big fan” of Turkish president Recep Erdogan despite his crackdown on democracy.
- Donald Trump has disparaged our armed forces, intelligence agencies, and diplomats. Trump has attacked Gold Star families, scoffed at American prisoners of war, interfered in the military justice system, and embroiled our military in domestic politics. He has ridiculed US intelligence agencies and falsely branded our nation’s diplomats as the “deep state.”
- Donald Trump has undermined the rule of law. Trump has compromised the independence of the Department of Justice, repeatedly attacked federal judges, and punished government officials who have sought to uphold the law. To protect himself from accountability, he has fired officials who launched investigations or testified against him, threatened whistleblowers, dangled pardons as incentives to stay silent, and blocked prison time for a political crony convicted of lying on his behalf. He has impugned journalists investigating his misconduct and has repeatedly denounced the press as the “enemy of the people.”
- Donald Trump has dishonored the office of the presidency. Trump engages in childish name-calling, mocks the disabled, belittles women, persistently lies, peddles baseless conspiracy theories, and continually embarrasses Americans in the eyes of the world.
- Donald Trump has divided our nation and preached a dark and pessimistic view of America. Trump consistently seeks to incite political, racial, and ethnic divisions, weakening our nation and delighting our adversaries. In contrast to Reagan’s vision of America as a “shining city on a hill,” Trump speaks of “American carnage,” pits Americans against each other, and stokes fears that “angry mobs” and “anarchists” are destroying our country.
- Donald Trump has attacked and vilified immigrants to our country. Trump routinely denigrates immigrants and inflames prejudices as he seeks support for his reelection. Despite America’s legacy as a nation of immigrants, he has demonized Americans who come from other countries, even telling members of Congress whose families immigrated to the United States to “go back” to the “crime-infested places” from which they came.
- Donald Trump has imperiled America’s security by mismanaging his national security team. Trump has dismissed or replaced — often by tweet — the secretaries of State, Defense, and Homeland Security, the Attorney General, the Directors of National Intelligence and the FBI, three National Security Advisors, and other senior officials in critical national security positions, many because they refused to cover for his misdeeds or demonstrate sufficient personal loyalty.
While we – like all Americans – had hoped that Donald Trump would govern wisely, he has disappointed millions of voters who put their faith in him and has demonstrated that he is dangerously unfit to serve another term.
In contrast, we believe Joe Biden has the character, experience, and temperament to lead this nation. We believe he will restore the dignity of the presidency, bring Americans together, reassert America’s role as a global leader, and inspire our nation to live up to its ideals.
While some of us hold policy positions that differ from those of Joe Biden and his party, the time to debate those policy differences will come later. For now, it is imperative that we stop Trump’s assault on our nation’s values and institutions and reinstate the moral foundations of our democracy.
To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him.
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Adm. Steve AbbotFmr Dep Homeland Security Advisor
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Mary Catherine AndrewsFmr Special Asst to the President
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Richard ArmitageFmr Deputy Secretary of State
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Christopher BartonFmr Director, NSC Staff
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John BellingerFmr Legal Adviser, Dept of State
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Adm. Kenneth BernardFmr Special Asst to the President
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Amb. Robert BlackwillFmr Deputy National Security Advisor
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Linton BrooksFmr Under Secretary of Energy
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Kara BueFmr Dep Asst Secretary of State
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Amb. Richard BurtFmr US Ambassador to Germany
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Victor ChaFmr Director, NSC Staff
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Thomas ChristensenFmr Dep Asst Secretary of State
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Eliot CohenFmr Counselor of the Dept of State
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Joseph CollinsFmr Dep Asst Secretary of Defense
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Heather ConleyFmr Dep Asst Secretary of State
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Chester CrockerFmr Asst Secretary of State
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Patrick CroninFmr Asst Administrator, USAID
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Amb. Sada CumberFmr US Special Envoy to the OIC
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Mike DonleyFmr Secretary of the Air Force
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Raymond DuBoisFmr Acting Under Secretary of the Army
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Amb. Eric EdelmanFmr Under Secretary of Defense
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Gary EdsonFmr Deputy National Security Advisor
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Richard FalkenrathFmr Dep Asst to the President
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Aaron FriedbergFmr Dep Asst to the Vice President
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Janice GardnerFmr Asst Secretary of the Treasury
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Amb. James GlassmanFmr Under Secretary of State
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David GordonFmr Director, State Dept, Policy Planning
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Colleen GraffyFmr Dep Asst Secretary of State
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Michael GreenFmr Senior Director, NSC Staff
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Sen. Chuck HagelFmr Secretary of Defense and US Senator
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Gen. Michael HaydenFmr Director of the CIA and the NSA
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Amb. Carla HillsFmr US Trade Representative
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Ash JainFmr Member, State Dept Policy Planning
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James KellyFmr Asst Secretary of State
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Rep. Jim KolbeFmr Member of Congress
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David KramerFmr Asst Secretary of State
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Stephen KrasnerFmr Director, State Dept Policy Planning
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Ken KriegFmr Under Secretary of Defense
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Amb. Frank LavinFmr Under Secretary of Commerce
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Rep. Jim LeachFmr Member of Congress
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Bruce LemkinFmr Dep Under Secretary of the Air Force
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Michael LeiterFmr Director, National Counterterrorism Ctr
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Peter LichtenbaumFmr Asst Secretary of Commerce
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Amb. Winston LordFmr US Ambassador to China
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James LoyFmr Dep Secretary of Homeland Security
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Peter MadiganFmr Dep Asst Secretary State
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Bryan McGrathFormer US Navy Officer
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David MerkelFmr Dep Asst Secretary of State
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John MitnickFmr General Counsel, Department of Homeland Security
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Holly MorrowFmr Director, NSC Staff
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Amb. John NegroponteFmr Director of National Intelligence, and Fmr Deputy Secretary of State
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Elizabeth NeumannFmr Asst Secretary of Homeland Security
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Sean O’KeefeFmr Secretary of the Navy and NASA Administrator
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Daniel PriceFmr Dep National Security Advisor
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Paul RosenzweigFmr Dep Asst Secretary of Homeland Security
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Nicholas RostowFmr NSC Legal Adviser
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Kori SchakeFmr Prin Dep Director, State Dept Policy Planning
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Wayne SchroederFmr Dep Under Secretary of Defense
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Robert ShanksFmr Dep Asst Attorney General
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Rep. Christopher ShaysFmr Member of Congress
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John SimonFmr Senior Director, NSC Staff
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Stephen SlickFmr Senior Director, NSC Staff
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Amb. William TaftFmr Deputy Secretary of Defense
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Shirin Tahir-KheliFmr Special Asst to the President
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Miles TaylorFmr Chief of Staff, Dept of Homeland Security
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William TobeyFmr Dep Administrator, Nat Nuclear Security Admin
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Amb. Robert TuttleFmr US Ambassador to the United Kingdom
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John VeroneauFmr Dep US Trade Representative
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Michael VickersFmr Under Secretary of Defense
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Ken WainsteinFmr Homeland Security Advisor
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Sen. John WarnerFmr US Senator
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Matthew WaxmanFmr Prin Dep Director, State Dept Policy Planning
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William WebsterFmr Director of the CIA and FBI
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Dov ZakheimFmr Under Secretary of Defense
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Philip ZelikowFmr Counselor of the Dept of
There is another Batman re-boot on the way in 2021. It will include the first of a trilogy of feature films depicting “The Batman” in his second year of vigilante justice in Gotham City. The folks producing it will also have a TV show for HBO depicting the Gotham City Police Department in the “first” year of “The Batman’s”appearance. The movies will be directed and written by Matthew Reeves and feature Robert Pattison as Batman, Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as The Riddler, Colin Farrell as Penguin and Andy Serkis as Alfred. The TV show will be a police procedural on the corruption within the Gotham City Police Dept and take place in the same universe as the films. It will be written and produced by Reeves and Terence Winter (who did Boardwalk Empire for HBO)It’s unkown if Pattison, Wright or others from the movie will appear in the TV show. This show appears just a couple of years after the end of “Gotham” which was a Fox show that dealt with the childhood of Bruce Wayne and focused on Jim Gordon and the origin stories of the Batman villians.
Here is the trailer for the film
It’s been awhile since I did a Jazz classic of the day but I ran across this one and it is tasty! Terry and Monk with a killer rhythm section from 1958
If you didn’t watch any Dallas Maverick games you maybe don’t relaize that they have one of the best players in basketball. Luka Doncic made some believers on Sunday. He had 43 points, 17 rebounds and 13 assists plus hit the game winning 3-pointer in OT as the Mavs beat the Clippers. That series is now tied at 2-2.
The Bucks have won 2 straight in their series with Orlando and return to action with a noon game today. You can hear it on Foxsports Radio AM1390 & FM 93.9.
Covers Of The Day (Happy Birthday to guitarist/keyboardist David Freiberg who turns 82 today. He played in the bands Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. That notable organ riff on “Miracles” is him. He also wrote the band’s hit, “Jane”.
Quicksilver covers Bo Diddley
Quicksilver covers a folk song from Hamilton Camp
and here is the classic Starship tune Miracles that was ubiquitous my senior year in high school…
Two of Trump’s election lies debunked. Read it here
Republicans on Trump…In their own words…before they made their Faustian bargain…and became members of the cult…
4 years ago Marco Rubio called Trump a “con artist.” Ted Cruz called him a “pathological liar.” Lindsey Graham called him a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.” Rick Perry called him a “barking carnival act.” Chris Stewart called him “our Mussolini.” They were right.
Quotes Of The Day
“If Mark Meadows don’t know what #QAnon is, he’s incompetent and should resign.”-Tea Pain
“America is at an inflection point. We can choose the path of becoming angrier, less hopeful, and more divided. Or we can choose a different path, and together, take this chance to heal, to be reborn, to unite. A path of hope and light.”-Joe Biden
When @jaketapper tells Mark Meadows there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud, Mark Meadows said, “There’s no evidence that there’s not either.”
“If you don’t remember who Mark Meadows, he’s the evil bastard who told President Obama to go back to Kenya. He’s the lunatic who led the obstructionist Freedom Caucus. He’s a liar and a racist, always has been.”-Rickey Davila
“Mark Meadows – who falsely claimed to have received a college degree – claims that Donald Trump reads more than anyone he knows. That of course is because he associates with illiterate people.”
“Remember when Trump’s campaign manager said to judge a politician by people he surrounds himself with? As of today, Trump’s campaign chair, deputy chair, nat security adviser, foreign policy adviser, political adviser, personal attorney, & chief strategist have all been indicted”-Catherine Rampall
“electing joe biden won’t fix everything but not electing joe biden means we never get a chance to fix anything.”-Sarah Lazarus
Napolitano called Trump’s pressure on Ukraine’s president to investigate Joe Biden “criminal and impeachable.”
“Have you noticed that undocumented immigrants commit crimes at a considerably lower rate than trump’s campaign staff?”-Shannon Resists
“Judge in Pennsylvania asked Trump campaign to provide evidence of mail-in ballot fraud after it sued to prevent state from using drop boxes for mail voting In 524 pages Trump campaign couldn’t cite a single instance of mail-in voting fraud”-Ari Berman
theintercept.com/2020/08/20/tru
“This is f*cking crazy. @realDonaldTrump told @fema to cut off funding to fire victims because CA is not part of his base. Wildfires devastated parts of my district and I saw firsthand the destruction. I will be asking the IG to investigate. Because we are all Americans. “-Rep Ted Lieu
“A great reminder that Republicans believe *in their core* that Trump didn’t call the Charlottesville nazis “very fine people.” This is one of the weirdest conspiracy theories they push. They simply don’t believe Trump said it. It’s on camera. Like 160 million people believe this.”-Matt Negrin
“Bottom Line: We have a commander-in-chief who has NO CLUE what’s going on with US troops under his command and in harm’s way. His own SECDEF consistently says they’re doing something different from what he says they’re doing. This is totally incoherent and dangerous.”-Brett McGurk
“At some point, folks will realize how watered down a term “collusion” is. Putin orchestrated political hybrid warfare against the U.S. with the help of Americans who conspired with agents of the Kremlin to steal an election. The conspiring never stopped, including in the coverup.”-Anna Chalupa
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